Front loading washing machines have a door mounted to a front panel of the appliance. The door permits access to the wash chamber of the appliance for loading and/or removal of articles in the wash chamber. In front loading washing machines, the door is mounted to the cabinet with a hinge. The hinge permits the door to rotate open and closed.
In certain washing machine appliance, the hinge is mounted to the front panel of the appliance with fasteners that extend through the front panel into a bracket that supports the hinge. However, when the bracket is mounted to the front panel using only fasteners that extend through the front panel into the bracket, the hinge receives limited support during opening and/or closing of the door. Thus, the hinge can feel flimsy and negatively impact a consumer's perception of the appliance. Accordingly, a washing machine appliance with features for more robustly mounting a hinge to a front panel of the appliance would be appreciated.
In addition, in certain washing machine appliances, the front panel is constructed of a sheet metal or another similar semi-rigid material. Thus, during opening and/or closing of the appliance's door, the front panel can deflect or bend. A user opening or closing the door can perceive the appliance as lacking in quality due to the panel's relatively low stiffness. Accordingly, a washing machine appliance with features for increasing the stiffness of the appliance's front panel would be useful.
Certain washing machine appliances include steel bracing to increase the stiffness of the appliance's front panel. The steel bracing generally extends between the top and bottom of the front panel. However, the effectiveness of such bracing is limited. Also, steel bracing can add to the overall cost of producing the appliance and can also consume valuable space within the appliance's cabinet. Accordingly, a washing machine appliance with features for increasing the stiffness of the appliance's front panel without using such bracing would be useful.